US to send Patriot air defence system to Ukraine: CNN
The administration of US President Joe Biden is finalising plans to provide Ukraine with the Patriot air defence system and could announce the move later this week, news outlets have reported.
The US-made Patriot air defence system.PAP/Tytus Żmijewski
News of the plan was first reported by US broadcaster CNN on Tuesday night, according to Poland’s biznesalert.pl website.
According to three US officials, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, the Pentagon’s proposal needs to be greenlighted by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin before being sent to President Biden for final approval.
CNN’s sources said Austin was expected to endorse the plan.
The decision to send the Patriot missile defence system to Ukraine “could be announced as soon as this week,” CNN reported.
Ukraine has been calling on the West to supply Patriot systems for months, but this poses significant logistics challenges, biznesalert.pl said.
The Patriot batteries need more personnel to operate them than smaller systems, while the necessary training usually takes many months, the website added.
The United States has already sent Patriot systems to NATO allies such as Poland, as well as providing Ukraine with other weaponry to help Kyiv defend itself against the Russian invasion.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said in late November that the Patriot air defence systems her country had offered Poland were intended for use „on NATO territory,” despite a request from Warsaw that the system be sent to Ukraine, some news outlets noted.
(pm/gs)
Source: biznesalert.pl, CNN
